Golf putter with aligning means

ABSTRACT

A golf putter having a pair of spaced, spherical golf ball-like enlargements associated with the head. The enlargements aid in properly aligning the head with a ball to be putted. Portions of the spherical enlargement may project below the face of the club head thus to prevent the club from digging into the playing surface.

United States Patent [191 Burrows Apr. 23, 1974 GOLF PUTTER WITH ALIGNING MEANS [76] Inventor: Huey E. Burrows, PO. Box 3118,

Oxford, Ala. 36201 [22] Filed: Oct. 16, 1972 [21] App]. No.: 297,624

[52] US. Cl 273/164, 273/163 R, 273/167 A, 273/167 F [51] Int. Cl. A631) [58] Fieldb fs earc fi ..TLTQI III..273/77 R, 163 R, 164, 273/167-175, 183 D, 193 R, 194 R, 194 A [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,319,964 5/1967 Steinberg 273/194 A 3,516,674 6/1970 Scarborough.... 273/169 1,654,916 l/1928 Boyce 273/164 3,039,776 6/1962 Faini 273/164 3,343,839 9/1967 Borah 273/164 X 3,384,376 5/1968 Greenlee 273/194 AX 3,408,074 10/1968 Antonious 273/169 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 340,579 1/1931 Great Britain 273/174 Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant ExaminerRichard J. Apley Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Jennings, Carter & Thompson [57] ABSTRACT A golf putter having a pair of spaced, spherical golf ball-like enlargements associated with the head. The enlargements aid in properly aligning the head with a ball to be putted, Portions of the spherical enlargement may project below the face of the club head thus to prevent the club from digging into the playing surface.

1 Claim, 10 Drawing Figures MEHTED APR 2 3 I974 SHEET 1 OF 2 GOLF PUTTER WITH ALIGNING MEANS This invention relates to golf putters and has for an object the provision of a golf putter equipped with means which may be used by the player to align the head with a ball to be putted, thus improving the players game.

An object of my invention is to provide a golf putter with golf ball-like enlargements, the enlargements being located so that they may be used as sighting means, aiding the user in more properly aligning the head of the club with the ball to be putted.

Further objects of my invention are to provide a golf putter of the character designated which has means thereon to secure actual golf balls to the face of the putter head; in which the golf ball-like projections or the golf balls themselves project below the bottom of the face of the putter, thereby protecting playing surfaces such as carpets used on miniature golf courses from damage as the putter is swung; and to provide a golf putter in which said enlargements are removably mounted on the face of the club.

A golf putter illustrating features of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the head of my improved putter and showing the use of actual golf balls to form the enlargements, the handle of the club being broken away;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the putter head shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the putter head shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 with one of the golf ball holding means pivoted to a position to permit removal of one of the balls;

FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1 and showing a modified form of my invention;

FIG. 5 is a planview of the putter head shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is an end elevational view of the putter head shown in FIGS. 4 and 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a further modified form of my invention;

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of the putter head shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a view of one of the golf ball-like enlargements removed from the putter head and which is used with the form of my invention shown in FIGS. 7 and 8; and,

FIG. 10 is a view of a different form of a golf ball-like enlargement removed from the head and which may be used with the modification shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

Referring now to the drawings for a better understanding of my invention and particularly FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, I show a golf putter having a head indicated generally by the numeral 10 which has the usual upstanding portion 11 adapted to receive the handle H.

The head 10 is provided with a striking surface or face 12. At the ends of the head I provide means for mounting thereon golf balls of regulation size which are shown at 13. This means may comprise rounded out portions or recesses 14 as more particularly shown in FIG. 3. Furthermore, at each end the face is provided with an enlarged ring-like section 16 which permits a portion of the surface of the golf ball to project therethrough.

Pivotally mounted to a rearwardly directed extension 17 formed on one side of the ring-like portion 16 is a strap 18. A screw 19 is adapted to secure the strap in place, thus to hold the ball 13 securely attached to the club.

It will be understood that each end of the club is identically formed with the mechanisms just described so that two of the balls 13 are carried by the club.

In use, I have found that the presence of the two enlargements in the form of the golf balls form sighting means by which the player can more accurately address a ball to be putted than without these enlargements. That is to say, when using the putter in the customary fashion the presence of these enlargements provide reference points to the eye so that the face 12 of the club can be more properly aligned with the ball, thus to assure more accurate putting. The presence of the spaced apart enlargements affords reference points for triangulation sighting and aligning the ball to be putted with the hole, thus aiding in predetermining the correct path the ball must follow to drop in the hole.

It will also be noted that the lower portions of the balls 13 project below the bottom edge 12a of the putter face. This is an important feature of my invention inasmuch as these rounded projections prevent the bottom edge of the club from digging into the playing surface, thus to damage it. This feature is particularly important when the putter is used on the so called minature golf courses which usually are surfaced with some form of carpet.

In FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 I show a putter head 21 in which the enlargements 22 are formed by casting them integrally with the head. Furthermore, the golf ball-like projections may be flattened so that the striking surface of the head is flat as viewed in FIGS. 5 and 6.

It will of course be understood that the enlargements 22 preferably correspond in diameter to the size of a regulation golf ball and that they are spaced far enough apart to permit a ball to form a pair of reference points so that the ball to be putted may be aligned with the hole as the third point or apex of an imaginary triangle. The fact that these enlargements are the same diameter as the actual ball being putted also appears to be of great assistance in more accurately putting a ball. In other words, the user can more accurately align the club by reference to bodies which in fact are the same size as the one he is going to putt, namely the size of the golf ball itself.

In FIGS. 7 and 8 I show a putter head 24 which may be a standard or regulation head formed of iron or steel. To this head I removably affix simulated golf balls 26. These may be formed of relatively light plastic material of various sorts such as styrofoam and the like.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the simulated golf balls 26 may be removably attached to the face of the head 24 by various means. Thus, in FIG. 9 I show the simulated golf ball 26 as being provided with a flattened area 27 to which may be applied a layer of adhesive material indicated by the stipling at 28. Thus, if so equipped the simulated balls 26 may simply be stuck onto the club head in the proper, spaced apart place as shown in FIG. 7.

In FIG. 10 I show the flattened place 27 on the golf ball as being equipped with a small magnet 29 which may be embedded flush with the flattened surface 27. When so equipped the balls 26 are held to the head 24 by the magnet.

In view of the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided an improved putter which is equipped with sighting means on its striking surface which aids the golfer in properly addressing and aligning the club with the ball to be putted. Furthermore, by providing the rounded surface below the face of the club the sharp lower edge is prevented from digging into the playing surface and this is particularly important, as stated, when putters are used on carpeted surfaces of 'miniature golf courses. In actual practice my invention has proven to be extremely useful in improving the players putting game. While I have shown my invention in several forms, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.

What I claim is:

1. In a golf putter having a handle and a head,

a. a pair of partially spherical enlargements carried by the head each of which is substantially the size of a regulation golf ball,

b. said enlargements being spaced apart sufficiently to permit a golf ball to be struck by the face of the head to be visually related to said enlargements and to a hole into which the golf ball is to fall, thus to determine the angle at which the club head must strike the ball to cause the ball to fall into the hole, and

. said enlargements extending above and below the 

1. In a golf putter having a handle and a head, a. a pair of partially spherical enlargements carried by the head each of which is substantially the size of a regulation golf ball, b. said enlargements being spaced apart sufficiently to permit a golf ball to be struck by the face of the head to be visually related to said enlargements and to a hole into which the golf ball is to fall, thus to determine the angle at which the club head must strike the ball to cause the ball to fall into the hole, and c. said enlargements extending above and below the top and bottom edges of the intermediate section of the head as the head is viewed in front elevation and extending past the rear surface of the intermediate section of the head as viewed in plan, each of said enlargements having flat surfaces which are co-planar with the front or striking face of the club head. 